Hugh Roach (born 11 September 1992) is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

professional player who plays hooker for the

Chicago Hounds The Chicago Hounds were a minor league, minor professional ice hockey team in the United Hockey League (UHL) for the 2006–07 UHL season. They played their home games at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. The new UHL team was approved ...

Major League Rugby Major League Rugby (MLR or USMLR) is a professional rugby union competition and the top-level championship for clubs in North America. In the 2022 season it was contested by thirteen teams: twelve from the United States and one from Canada. Off ...

(MLR) in the United States. He also plays for the

USA Perpignan Union Sportive Arlequins Perpignanais, also referred to as USA Perpignan or Perpignan, is a French professional rugby union club founded in 1933 and based in Perpignan, in the Pyrénées-Orientales department. They compete in the Top 14, Franc ...

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

(France).

Family and early life

Roach was born in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. He played his junior rugby at

Hunters Hill Rugby Club The Hunters Hill Rugby Club, is an Australian amateur rugby union club based in Hunters Hill, New South Wales. The club currently fields six teams in the NSW Suburban Rugby Union competition, known as "Subbies". Hunters Hill was formed in 1892, a ...

, and attended

Newington College , motto_translation = To Faith Add Knowledge , location = Inner West and Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = A ...

. His father, Graham Roach, was also a first grade rugby player who played at hooker for Western Suburbs in the

Shute Shield The Shute Shield is a semi-professional rugby union competition in Sydney, Australia. It is the premier club competition in New South Wales. The Shute Shield is awarded to the winning team from the Sydney premiership grand final held at the end ...

competition. Roach was an Australia Schoolboys representative in 2009 and 2010, and is currently the equal most capped schools rugby player in Australia. He was also a member of the Australia Under 20 side for both the

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

where he made 3 appearances (Fiji, Samoa, New Zealand) and

2012 IRB Junior World Championship The 2012 IRB Junior World Championship was the fifth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. This competition replaced the now defunct Under 19 and Under 21 world championships. The event was organised in South A ...

s where he was capped a further 4 times ( Scotland, Argentina, France twice).

Rugby career

Roach initially made his name playing for

Eastwood Eastwood may refer to: Places ;in Australia *Eastwood, New South Wales **Eastwood railway station **Electoral district of Eastwood *Eastwood, South Australia ;in Canada * Eastwood, Ontario *Eastwood, Edmonton, Alberta, a neighborhood ;in the Ph ...

in the

competition and was named Shute Shield Rookie of the Year after the 2013 tournament. This good form saw him picked by the Western Force for their match against the

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

in June 2013. He made the Waratahs extended playing squad for the

2014 Super Rugby season The 2014 Super Rugby season is the fourth season of the 15-team format for the Super Rugby competition involving teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. For sponsorship reasons, this competition is known as Asteron Life Super Rugby ...

as third-choice hooker behind

Tatafu Polota-Nau Sione 'Utukiveisini Tatafu Polota-Nau (born 26 July 1985) is an Australian rugby union player who recently played for Parramatta Two Blues in Australia's Shute Shield. He joined the club in December 2017. Family and early life Polota-Nau was bo ...

and

Tolu Latu Latu (born 23 February 1993) is a Tongan-born Australian Rugby Union player who currently is a hooker for the New South Wales Waratahs in Super Rugby. Career Latu plays Shute Shield rugby for Sydney University and was a member of the premie ...

. An injury to Latu in the latter stages of the season saw Roach earn his first Super Rugby cap as a second-half substitute in the Waratahs 41-13 victory over the on 18 May 2014. The 2015 season brought further success on the field with Roach earning a further 6 Super Rugby caps for the Waratahs .In the domestic club competition, he added another Shute Shield grand final win (his second in three GF appearances) in a performance that saw him voted the Man of the Match by the TV broadcast team. The 2016 season saw Roach earn a further 13 appearances for the Waratahs. With a total of 21 super appearances under his belt the Tahs prioritized the re-signing of Roach in June 2016 committing him for a further 2 seasons at Moore Park. In 2017 he earned a further 9 caps for the Waratahs taking his career total Super rugby caps to 30 at the conclusion of the 2017 season. In season 2018 Roach continued his good form making a further 9 appearances in the first 10 rounds of the Super Rugby competition including stand out performances against the from Cape Town, the in Durban and 70 minutes of high energy play against the competition leaders the in Christchurch. 2019 saw a move to

Melbourne Rebels The Melbourne Rebels is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Melbourne. They made their debut in SANZAR's Super Rugby tournament in 2011. They were the first privately owned professional rugby union team in Australia, until 2017 ...

where Roach added a further 8 super caps to his record taking his total to 49. He took up a playing contract with

Tasman Mako The Tasman Rugby Union is the governing body for rugby union in Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere, a bay at the north end of the South Island in New Zealand. Headquartered in Nelson, New Zealand, Nelson, TRU is New Zealand's newest provincial union, f ...

in New Zealand's

Mitre 10 Cup The mitre (Commonwealth English) (; Greek: μίτρα, "headband" or "turban") or miter (American English; see spelling differences), is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in t ...

later that year where he played 10 games then signed a contract to play for

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club which competes in the Premiership, the top division of English rugby union. The club has also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. While ...

in the UK Premiership but that was terminated because of Roach having a foot injury. Roach then came to the in a rush to find a replacement hooker and made his debut off the bench against the .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roach, Hugh 1992 births People educated at Newington College Australian rugby union players New South Wales Waratahs players Greater Sydney Rams players Rugby union hookers Rugby union players from Sydney Living people Tasman rugby union players Melbourne Rebels players Australian expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in New Zealand Crusaders (rugby union) players Expatriate rugby union players in the United States Austin Gilgronis players USA Perpignan players Chicago Hounds (rugby union) players Eastwood Rugby Club players